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It is time (and past time) to Occupy Mecca—to save Mecca.

I am adamantly not talking about a disaster US occupation, a la Iraq and Afghanistan.

What I am calling for is nothing less than millions of faithful pilgrims saving Mecca from destruction.

I would call the destruction imminent, except that it is not imminent. It has already happened.

No, it’s not the Americans, or the Israelis, who would be destroying Mecca.
It’s the so-called Guardians of the two holy sites (Mecca and Medina), the Saudi royal elites, who have negligently stood by over the last two decades as the majority of holy sites in these two most sacred Muslim cities have been destroyed, sacrificed to the false gods of modernization, capitalism, and progress.

Saudi Wahhabis have a long history of destroying shrines, including those of the family of the Prophet in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The Saudis have destroyed or bulldozed some 300 sacred sites and shrines in Mecca and Medina in creating what many are calling the new “Las Vegas.”

Here is some of what the local experts in Saudi Arabia have to say about this cultural and architectural genocide:

"No one has the balls to stand up and condemn this cultural vandalism," says Dr Irfan al-Alawi who, as executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, has fought in vain to protect his country's historical sites. "We have already lost 400-500 sites. I just hope it's not too late to turn things around."And here is what a Saudi Architect, Dr. Angwai, has to say:

The Gulf Institute estimates that 95% of the religious structures in Mecca have been destroyed in the last two decades.

The rush to build 5-star hotels for the richest of the pilgrims comes at the expense of historical mosques, shrines, cemeteries, and homes that are being bulldozed one after another to make room for the new Hiltons hotels and Channel (and similar) shopping malls. Many Muslims all over the world see the crass commercialism of these sites as a gross violation of the radical egalitarianism of Islamic teachings so beautifully emphasized in the Hajj pilgrimage.

What was intended to be an occasion to symbolize the unity of humanity standing before the Divine in the most basic of garments is now turned by the Saudi royal elite (working in tandem with Wahhabi clerics) into an occasion to create the world’s largest market for spiritual tourism.

Comments

Jalaledin Ebrahim
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Aug 29, 2012
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12:59pm

Beloved Omid: There will come a time when Muslims will recognize that turning towards the physical Kaba or kissing the black stone is less enriching than turning to the Kaba within and kissing those who are most deprived. Love, light and shadow, Jalaledin

T Hoss
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Aug 29, 2012
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1:56pm

Omid: when was the last time you were in Makkah and Madina?

Samu Dini Banse
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Aug 29, 2012
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3:42pm

OH YAA ALLAH SAVE US YOUR RELIGION FROM THE INNER AND OUTSIDE DESTROYERS . OUR OWN ENEMIES THE ENEMIES OF PROGRESS .

Amiiiiiiiiiiin….......

Aamir
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Aug 29, 2012
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3:52pm

I was recently there and witnessed all those distractions and building of luxurious hotels. Not to say a thing about the “wonderful” behavior of locals; that was not even close to the teachings and practice of our beloved prophet.

Aamir

Martin Bruner
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Aug 29, 2012
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7:13pm

From a social worker’s viewpoint, this appears to be a religous ethical dilemma. How to provide access to Mecca for the world’s fastest growing religion? If modernizations did not occur, who would decide who can make the haj during the pr…escribed month in the midst of overcrowded and unsanitary conditions? On the other side, if Mecca is bull-dozed to make a giant hotel, what will be left of the holy site besides the Holy Kaba? I meekly suggest that the clerics consider social solutions, such as proclaiming pilgrimage during other times to have as much significance, etc. What do you suiggest professor Safi? Don’t you think something has to change?

Aamir
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Aug 29, 2012
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8:14pm

With all my critique of Saudi’s policies of making it more like a business center than spiritual site, I must appreciate their efforts in keeping it clean with the most modern facilities available. I was very impressed by the rapid and frequent cleaning by efficient team of workers equipped using latest technology. and BTW I dont think Professor Safi can change the prescribed month for Haj.

PTP
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Aug 29, 2012
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10:46pm

They should have not placed all the hotels and malls so close to the Haram/Kabbah.
It would have been better if all of the hotels/mall were build like 1 mile away and have trams/trains/rails running continuously to/from the hotels to the Haram. This would have keep all the shoppers and “hustle & bustle” separated from poeple worshipping and praying.

Fazel Subian
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Aug 30, 2012
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8:43am

Religion is used to fulfill the political agenda of ‘Wahabis’. Unless religion is understood as re-legion & separate from country law, culture & traditions, it is not possible to save Mecca or Madina. Pl share to understand your religion, ‘TRUE ESSENCE OF RELIGION’, http://www.fazelsubian.com

asif sheikh
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Aug 30, 2012
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9:39am

there is no doubt that development of facilities are required for the growing multitude of pilgrims but not at the cost of the destruction of the very sites that are part of their legacy and heritage. Look at the western world and how they have preserved their historical sites, yet manage to develop the much need infra-structure.

John Miller
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Aug 30, 2012
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12:50pm

God forbid we Muslims ever thought archeological expeditions of the holy land (a la Israel/Palestine) would be fruitful endeavors for deepening our understanding of our tradition.

It is so sad these links to our Prophet and this period are gone for good.

Great post, btw.

EssEm
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Aug 30, 2012
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1:28pm

Any monotheistic faith that forbids idolatry is going to have periodic outbreaks of iconoclastic vandalism under the guise of “purification of the faith”. Christianity got this drive from Judaism, as did Islam. Even Eastern Orthodoxy had its iconoclastic periods. And Protestantism in its Calvinist form destroyed every image in sight. Even Henry VIII, as “Catholic” as he was, burned the shrines of the saints in England.

Given Islam’s deep and powerful suspicion of anything like “shirk”, and of images, this is not surprising.

Even the linkage of religious fervor with the exhibition of wealth is not new. All the English churches that had their statues of Christ, the Virgin and the Saints removed were then filled up with the tombs (and statues) of the nobility.

Omid Safi is a Professor of Islamic Studies at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in contemporary Islamic thought and classical Islam. An award-winning teacher and speaker, his most recent book, "Memories of Muhammad," looks at the biography and legacy of the Prophet Muhammad.
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